The Truth About Women and Self Esteem

If you are a woman and you want to increase your self esteem then you’ll find something useful in this article. Specifically we’ll discus how come women tend to have low self esteem, why you need to do something to increase your own self esteem, and, most importantly, how to change your level of self esteem.

How come low self esteem is such a problem for women?

Several reasons:

1. Up until about a hundred years ago women were considered to belong to a man in the same way as his horse or his suit belonged to him. Until marriage a women was her father’s property and on getting married she became her husband’s property.
2. For many centuries women have been treated as second class citizens, not allowed to vote, not able to take paid employment. Even today women are seldom paid as much as men for doing the same work.
3. Women are physically less strong than men. So when it comes down to any sort of conflict situation a man can usually overpower a woman.

All these reasons lead to an undercurrent throughout society that women are somehow less valuable than men. Is it any wonder so many women suffer from low self esteem?

Why do I need to do something about my lack of self esteem?

Many psychotherapists consider the root of all psychological problems to be low self esteem. Problems such as addictions to shopping, alcohol or drugs; fear of intimacy or success; broken marriages and the inability to form relationships. If you suffer from any of these problems, or other unhelpful behavior patterns such as overworking, promiscuity, bowing to peer pressure or always putting other people’s needs ahead of your own, then you would benefit greatly from improving your level of self esteem.

With high self esteem comes confidence and trust in yourself and your decisions. People with high self esteem tend to be noticed and promoted in work situations. They tend to become leaders and are much happier and more fulfilled in their own lives.

How can I change my level of self esteem?

There are lots of different ways you can change your self esteem for the better. At the root of them all is to realize your own intrinsic self worth.

Study the lives of successful women and read their autobiographies. Study what it was about them that enabled them to succeed. There are common threads such as an absolute belief in themselves and in their right to live their own lives their way.

Believe the truth that you are a unique and talented individual with your own skills, talents and abilities.

Stand up tall and confident. Fake it till you make it! By changing your physiology and posture you will change the way you feel about yourself.

Write down everything you’ve ever succeeded with, both small and large achievements.

Start to feel good about yourself. Treat yourself with love and respect and others will start to treat you that way too.

All of this will feed into your level of self esteem.

As a woman you may have been programmed by society and your own upbringing to have low self esteem, but you don’t have to stay that way.

For your own happiness and achievement it is vital to increase your self esteem and I have covered a few ideas you can get started with.

I wish you every success on your quest for higher self esteem.

Penny Dablin is a life coach and the author of “The Strength to be Yourself”, a book about women and self esteem